Here's the main item I created for a Secret Santa swap on another forum. My swapee wants to get into doing mountain man or voyager style reenactments in Wisconsin area set around the mid to late 1800s.
I didn't have enough time to make a bandolier bag, but there was enough to create a beaded panel for a small belt pouch. (Could be a tobacco pouch or whatever little trinket carrier.) I left the tie long, in case he would rather use it as a necklace type or what not.
The pouch is very soft buckskin leather, with an antler slice button for decoration. The lacing is also all deer leather, and the decorative tassels sport brass cone dangles.
The seed beads are size 11 square stitched together. The pattern I used was inspired by a large Sioux beaded bag. I took one of the aspects of the pattern and graphed it out on KG-Chart so I could stitch it more easily. The original appeared to be lazy stitched on the bag - but I'm surprisingly horrible at that. So I ended up fabricating the bead cloth first and then stitching it on the leather.
Surprisingly I only stabbed my finger once with the glover's needle when stitching the bead work to the bag!
It was a lot of fun, the first bead work I have ever stitched onto leather. I've usually stitched it on felt or something first. I wanted to keep it somewhat authentic to what was around during those times in that setting.
DISCLAIMER:
I am NOT Native American in any means of which I have claim. I'm not claiming to be Native through this piece. I don't usually stay this close to real Native American patterns in bead work unless they are for my own usage at home. I only kept this one close, since my giftee has serious interest in this particular type of reenactment. I made sure to stress in the note included that this is NOT authentic, nor is it Native handcrafted.
